Bacano
Really cool, awesome — Colombia's home-grown upgrade of chévere.
Related lesson: Colombian Spanish — A Survival Guide.
Hear it in context
Eso está muy bacano, parcero.
That's really cool, man.
Conocí a la familia de mi novia; son gente muy bacana.
I met my girlfriend's family; they're really great people.
Qué bacano que hayas venido.
It's so cool that you came.
What It Actually Means
Bacano means cool, excellent or awesome — a notch more enthusiastic than chévere, and more distinctly Colombian. A plan bacano is a great plan; gente bacana are good people.
Where It Comes From
From bacán, a word with a winding Caribbean-and-Río-de-la-Plata history (a wealthy, stylish man), reshaped in Colombia — Medellín especially — into an adjective for anything excellent.
How Natives Use It
For things (“una moto bacana”), plans, music, and above all people: calling someone bacano or una bacanería is real praise — generous, easygoing, fun. As an exclamation, “¡Qué bacano!” is “how cool is that!”.
Common Pitfall
Don’t reach for the superlative chimba just because you heard it at the rumba — it’s genuinely vulgar in the wrong company, while bacano is safe everywhere. When in doubt: bacano with strangers, chimba only once you’re sure of the room.